Toyota won approval for a $10 million settlement of sudden acceleration lawsuit

California Superior Court Judge Anthony Mohr approved the Toyota Motor Corp.’s $10 million settlement with the family of Mark Saylor, a California Highway Patrol officer who died with three others when their car sped out of control and crashed.

Saylor, his wife, their 13-year-old daughter and his brother-in-law all died in the crash on Aug. 28, 2009. The approval was given during a hearing in Los Angeles for the product-liability settlement.

Bob Baker Lexus, the San Diego dealership that had loaned the Lexus ES350 used by Mark Saylor and his family, objected to the settlement that leaves the dealer with unresolved negligence claims.

The family claimed that the Lexus accelerated on its own and hit speeds of over 100 miles an hour when it reached the end of a freeway and broke through a fence.

According to the complaint, Saylor's brother-in-law had made a call to 911 and said that the accelerator was stuck.

In a statement made last December, Toyota said that the San Diego County Sheriff's Department submitted a report on the crash in December 2009 that determined that the cause of the crash was an “incompatible all-weather floor mat from a Lexus SUV model that was installed incorrectly in the ES 350 sedan at the dealership." [via bloomberg]